Ankeny Students, Businesses Celebrated at Annual Workforce Partnership Ceremony

From a City of Ankeny media release:

On April 18, students, parents, teachers, along with representatives from the City of Ankeny and local businesses gathered at Ankeny High School to celebrate the conclusion of the City's fourth annual Workforce Partnership Student Academy.

The Workforce Partnership is a collaborative effort between the business and education community, connecting students with career opportunities in Ankeny. The goals of the workforce partnership are to give students exposure to a workplace environment, inform teachers about the skills their students will need to be competitive, and give parents an understanding of the education their children will require to obtain successful careers. This year's business participants included John Deere Des Moines Works, Siemens Building Technologies and the Iowa Soybean Association.  

Before students made their presentations recapping their experiences with local business partners, Mayor Gary Lorenz spoke about the benefits of the program.

"Not a lot of people know that Ankeny is home to several companies with a global footprint," explained Mayor Lorenz. "For students to have the opportunity to learn about these businesses in a way that might influence their education, potentially leading them to jobs back in the community is an excellent opportunity."

Businesses also see opportunities in the Workforce Partnership. Jim Rottinghaus, Labor Relations Manager at John Deere Des Moines Works spoke about their company's involvement.

"It gives us a good opportunity to welcome young people into the workforce, help them prepare and help them determine what they want to do with their lives," said Rottinghaus. "It gives students an opportunity to see what we do on a daily basis and a good understanding of our business."

The next stage of the Workforce Partnership is the Summer Teacher Internship. Five Ankeny teachers will participate in a two and half week summer program where businesses host teachers and give them insights on skill sets students need to be successful. Chad Brooks who teaches Principles of Engineering at Ankeny High School is looking forward to his visit to Siemens Building Technologies, one of the program's partners.

"In our Engineering class right now, we're teaching control systems, writing code and writing computer programs that respond to sensors. At Siemens, that's exactly what they're doing. They're building self-automated, smart buildings," said Brooks. "I'm looking forward to seeing what they're doing there, bringing that to the classroom and hopefully networking with other professionals to bring them, guest-speak and educate students about the extension of their learning."

To see more photos from the event, visit the city's Facebook page.